Page 4 of The Devastation You Reap
She shuffles toward me, her dyed red hair resembling a bird's nest on her head despite the fact she was brushing it when I left her last night, her makeup is smeared all over her face and I can smell the stench of alcohol permeating from her skin from all the way over here.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"I went back out."
My head rears back in shock.
"What?" she asks, plodding toward the coffee maker and slamming her hand down on it until it starts working. "You ruined all my fun last night. I had to go and find some more."
"Oh, yeah. Of course. Sorry about that."
"Nah," she says, waving me off. "Best thing that could have happened. Leon Dunn can go fuck himself. I found a much better playmate who could get the job properly done."
"Great. I'm glad," I deadpan as I rinse my plate off. "I'm heading out."
"Already, it's like…"
"Eight."
"Exactly."
"You've got class in an hour."
"I know, I know." She holds her hands up in defense. "I'll be there,Mom."
"Good. But shower first. No one’s gonna wanna sit next to you smelling like that."
"Bitch," she squeals as I make my way down to my room to grab my books.
She's still in the kitchen hugging a mug of coffee when I return.
"You coming out for drinks tonight?"
I stare at her, wondering why she's even bothering to ask me.
"Oh come on, Mace. It’s freshman year, you seriously can't be boring the whole time. You need to let your hair down at some point."
"I do. Just not on a Monday night. You know I volunteer tonight."
"Yeah, until like nine. Come after."
"Not happening."
"Fine. Be like that. But you'll never lose those V plates hanging out with kids at the community center."
"Who says I want to?" I shoot over my shoulder as I leave our dorm.
"Prude."
"Slut."
I'm still laughing as I jog down the stairs.
Charlie and I might be the most unlikely of friends, but somehow she's wiggled her way into my life. She might spend most of her time giving me shit about my life choices, much like I do hers. But all of it is lighthearted, and I'm pretty sure I'd miss it—miss her—now if anything was to happen.
She's the type of girl I stayed the hell away from in high school. She was the popular one. The cheerleader. The ones who hated me equally as much as I hated them. But opposites attract and now I can't imagine my life without her, even if she causes more drama than I probably need in my life.
I spend a little over thirty minutes in the library finding all the books I need for my next assignment before heading to class.
